What are the lessons learned as backlogged rape kits have been tested and cases prosecuted? How can our community respond to the impact of trauma?
These and more are the subjects of two events later this month to explore "Violence, Victims and Trauma" -- one for the general public and the other an all-day conference specifically for law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, advocacy professionals and counselors.
All are invited to the kickoff event on Jan. 29, 6 p.m. at Memphis Bioworks, 20 Dudley St., #900, featuring Dr. Nancy Hardt on trauma, victims and community response.
On Jan. 30, the training conference will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fogelman Executive Conference Center at the University of Memphis. Both events are free. To pre-register for the professionals' session via EventBright, go to http://memphiswomen.org/.
The events are organized by the Memphis Sexual Assault Kit Task Force, the Memphis Area Women's Council and Memphis Says NO MORE.
Speakers include:
Dr. Nancy Hardt -- pathologist, OBGYN, a founder of the Memphis Area Women's Council, professor emerita in the University of Florida College of Medicine. Dedicated to teaching medical students, political leaders and the community about the causes and solutions to health care disparities for children and families.
Hardt was instrumental in the development of the
Family Data Center, which unlike any previous effort, brought together multidiscipline data sources (criminal offense data, Dept. of Children and Families, Dept. of J
uvenile Justice, the Dept. of Education, health records, to name a few) into one secure, data collection and retrieval system.
"After using data and maps to identify neighborhoods suffering the greatest health inequities, (Hardt's team mobilized) neighborhood based services which within four years resulted in a reduction in unintended pregnancies, a reduction in premature births, and a stunning 45% reduction in cases of child abuse and neglect."
From Hardt's September 2017 talk to the United Nations. Read the entire speech
here
.
Detective Sergeant James Markey
served for 30 years with the Phoenix Police Department, retiring in 2012 as a detective sergeant. For 14 years, he supervised the sex crime unit which investigated more than 6,000 felony sexual assault cases, including 80 serial rapists, and processed dozens of crime scenes. He is a member of the Arizona Forensic Advisory Committee and consults with law enforcement agencies nationwide on investigating cold case sexual assaults.
Kelly Taylor -- a Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Program Manager and Coordinator at Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC. She holds a registered nursing degree from Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing with SANE-A credentials
from the International Association of Forensic Nurses. For the past 12 years, she has been an instructor for SANEs, law enforcement and emergency nurses on the effects of trauma on sexual assault victims.
Markey and Taylor come to Memphis
through our partnership with the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance national sexual assault kit initiative.
For more information, contact Deborah M. Clubb,
